Left to Wander
by LilyGinnyBlack
Summary: And that young man, that stranger who came to their village a little over a month and a half ago with his bright smile, golden locks, and mischievously sparkling eyes; everything about him screamed Lucifer to her. He was dangerous."- DD/GG one-shot.


_**Left to Wander**_

_**By:**_ _LilyGinnyBlack_

**Disclaimer: Everything within this fanfic, with the exception of the OC whose POV this is from, is copyright ©J.K. Rowling. Along with ©Scholastic , ©Bloomsbury Publishing, ©Raincoast Books, and various other publishers, I'm sure.**

**WARNING: This story does focus on Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald, yet there is no explicit content at all. If anything, any romance between them would just barely be hinted at and one would actually have to squint to see it. Nevertheless, I'm forewarning just in case. I'm also going to warn that there are various references to Christianity and the Devil. So if you are uncomfortable with anything mentioned, please just click the back button, thank you.**

_A/N: As I mentioned in my warning, this story does contain many references to Christianity and the Devil, though I myself am rather limited in my knowledge in this area (much like the OC whose POV this fic is from). The reason for this comparison, and the inspiration behind this one-shot, comes from this: http : / / harryahistory . com / 2010 / 02 / vault – xx – Dumbledore – and – grinde . html (obviously, just get rid of the spaces), in which Dumbledore and Grindlewald's relationship is discussed by J.K. Rowling and Melissa Anelli (author of Harry, A History). A comparison is made as well. Now, enough of this rambling and please enjoy the story!_

-()-

She didn't know much about Christianity. Being a poor peasant who lived in this quaint town of Godric's Hollow, her family and herself simply didn't have the time to go to church. Not with a husband who constantly worked and with children who seemed to be continuously sick. Then there was the fact that she had do whatever she could day in and day out just to make their small household livable and make sure that there was _something_, even if it was little or next to nothing, upon their table to eat.

Survival was a full time job that never ended. So while all those rich individuals had the time to go and pray at church and listen to the calming hymns, she made do with what she could. While not horribly well versed in the stories of the Bible or Christianity in general, she did know about Lucifer: the Fallen Angel.

And that young man, that stranger who came to their village a little over a month and a half ago with his bright smile, golden locks, and mischievously sparkling eyes; everything about him screamed Lucifer to her.

He was dangerous.

A Fallen Angel that seemed to be bringing young Albus Dumbledore down along with him into the Burning Inferno. Even though the young man was younger than Albus by two years, though today it would be three, for Albus was turning eighteen on this late August day, he always appeared to be the one in control. As if he had Albus bound in strings that he simply pulled along.

As she watched the two boys smiling and laughing, their faces filled with vibrancy most likely due to the occasion and the fact that they had much in common, or so the word on the grapevine goes. And as wonderful as it was to see Albus being more open and cheerful, a sight that was rare even when he and his family moved here when he was about ten or so, something about it was just _wrong_. The worst part of it all was that she wouldn't even know how to explain herself if someone had asked just _what_ was wrong.

Perhaps it was something that just couldn't be explained; something so unobtainable that there were no words to describe it? She didn't know, but something was off about Albus lately. She was never one to whisper behind the boy's back, or like how it was in the past, behind the family's back. There were many peculiar rumors about the Dumbledore family, they were akin to the quiet murmurings of a gently flowing stream in the way they were kept hidden away from the subjects in question, but they spread throughout the town like a passionately burning fire.

The latest rumor dealt with the whole family being witches. The Gellert boy, though he was suspicious when he first came and was met with apprehension, was quickly won over simply by being in the presence of Albus. Though Albus and his family were the most common victims of gossip, the source of it was mostly to explain that odd air that seemed to exist around him and his brother, and that had existed around his now late mother. People were going rather easy on him at the moment because of that: the death of his mother.

She had been a good and kind woman, albeit a bit strange.

Aberforth had always been a boy with his heart in the right place, though he suffered from a rather infamous temper.

And Albus had been a boy with a wondrous mind that he put to good use and a sensitive heart, though he usually shielded it away behind his intellect.

But now his shield was forming cracks, breaking apart piece by piece. He was opening up ever so slowly. It was a pleasant sight, or, rather, it would have been a pleasant sight; if it hadn't been for that boy who was always around him. She could sense it, the way that boy was poisoning Albus' mind; tainting it and corrupting it.

There was a glint in Albus' eyes that had never been there before. It was becoming more and more wild and rebellious, resembling those of the younger boy more and more as each day passed.

She wouldn't dare to speak a word of her thoughts though, oh no, the women of Godric's Hollow were all quite taken with young Gellert Grindelwald. But all she ever saw was the Devil.

The Devil who, though he hardly ever touched Albus, had his claws tucked in tight to the older boy's flesh.

He was the beautiful, Fallen Angel Lucifer, and she feared that Albus was his innocent prey.

-()-

Two weeks or so later, as the scandal of the Dumbledore family rocked the town of Godric's Hollow to its roots: the death the Dumbledore's unknown child, Albus' little sister Ariana, the disappearance of Gellert, and the heated argument and fight on the unfortunate girl's funeral day; everything about it had shocked the residents. That was, except one.

She wasn't surprised at all. She had known that it was coming, that the snake would shed his skin and cause disaster. And through the darkness that had settled over the town, the only bit of light she was able to find was that Albus Dumbledore had been able to snap those claws that had once poked through his skin like a needle through thread.

Though, every time she saw him years later, she noted the way his eyes sparkled.

They shined with humor and gaiety, but that was just a front to hide the pain of those phantom claws that remained.

He had been enraptured by shoulder length golden locks and a devilish grin. While he hadn't been lead into Hell on the leash of that Fallen Angel, he hadn't been able to find his clear path to Heaven either.

It was distressing to realize that this young man would be subject to wander Purgatory forever.

-()-

_A/N: And that's the end! I may have mixed in some references to Dante's Inferno and also to Greek/Roman mythology, with the whole "wander Purgatory" business. As I was writing it, I was thinking more along the lines of the Asphodel Meadows, were most of the souls that entered Hades ended up, and where they were left to wander aimlessly for all eternity, and can be equate somewhat to Purgatory; just as Tartarus can be equated to Hell and the Elysian Fields to Heaven._

_Enough with that though. Happy Valentine's Day, or Singles' Awareness Day, as I like to put it, and please tell me what you think of it in a review. Take care!_

-LilyGinnyBlack-


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